Bryan Adrian's 2012 Report on the 5th Annual Tbilisi Wine and Cheese tasting Event, Georgia

Sunday, Sept. 23^rd, 2012, I attended with Patrick Lynch & Irma Tchokonelidze the 5^th annual wine and cheese expo at the Georgian Expo in Tbilisi.  It was well organized, but by far the best wines and best organized booth was the AGRO wines booth of the NCGFPMP = National Center for Grapevine & Fruit Tree Planting Material Propagation, managed by Levan Ujmajuridze.  The Agro exhibition tasting booth was large and Levan’s wife ran the tasting staff the first few hours, before her husband arrived.  Agro Wines had dozens of varieties of wines from eastern Georgia, Khakheti region, and many from western Georgia too, which produces wine in Racha, Imereti, Lechkhumi, and a few small micro-climate regions.

Some great cheeses were offered to guests, and my favorite of all was the booth run by the sisters of the Orthodox Church, the Pokha Nunnery Cheese exhibition.  www.facebook.com/phokanunnerycheese .  Among the rare and exotic hand made and carefully cured hard and soft cheeses, my Phoka favorites were the Monastic Blue cheese, fermented for three months in walnut leaves; and the Caneo cheese, an interesting granulated cheese made with fungus of the blue variety, and wrapped in ashes during fermentation and curing; and of course, the Petit Blue, small little hard sacks of noble blue mold hard cheese.

http://agrosc.ge/news.php?lang=en&id=454

AGRO’s National Center for Grapevine & Fruit Tree Planting Material Propagation [see link above], is a non -entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity which was established in 2007. It was funded and guided by German and French and Italian agencies, and “CARTU”, the international charity foundation created by Bidzina Ivanishvili. The Center is located on 54 ha area in the village of Jighaura, Mtskheta municipality, and includes grapevine and fruit tree crop development sectors.

AGRO’s National Center for Grapevine & Fruit Tree Planting Material Propagation is manned with a highly-skilled scientific and technical staff.  Local and foreign consultants engage in the propagation, conservation, and search for grapevine and fruit tree endemic species; they select new species and clones of rootstocks and scions; put into practice the latest processes of cultivation & treatment of mother plant blocks, and also, monitor the phytosanitary conditions of the plants.

AGRO Wines below tested and tasted by Bryan Adrian.  His evaluation [of 25 wines; he might have been able to rate a few more, but was a little bit tipsy near the end of 25 varieties !!]

Agro wines:  REDS

MERLOT – the Agro Company wine [Agro = NCGFPMP = National for Grapevine & Fruit Tree Planting Material Propagation] merlot red wine was rather good, but not complex and rich like a real European red merlot wine.  Maybe this grape does not like the soil here.

ALEXANDROULI --  a traditional red Georgian wine that for me was lighter than Saperavi with a little bit less sour taste.  I am not fond of Saperavi wine, due to the strong tannic acids.  But for a Alexandrouli, this was a good one from Agro wines.

DANAKHARULI –  this red wine is tastier than the Alexandrouli above, and less stringent than Saperavi.

MESHKHURISHAVI –  this wine is equally as sharp and pungent and tannic as a Saperavi, but to my tongue somewhat tastier.

USAKHEBURI – a deep rosé pink color, almost tastes like a red variety of the white Kisi wine.  I would buy a bottle for a friend.

TAVKERI --  this grape is natural and native to Georgia, but not found in many places of Georgia.  It is not easy to collect enough tons of this grape to ferment into a wine for bottling.  I preferred this Georgian red wine to all the others!  Mild to medium European red wine taste and effect.

CHUMUTA 1 – very strong and tannic and heavy like a Saperavi, but a tiny bit better for many western tastes.

Agro wines: WHITES

KHIKHVI –  a very smooth Georgian white wine with a hint of green wine Mtsvani flavor and tartness, seemingly blended with a Tsinandali mildness, overall a near European white wine experience.  This Agro Khikhvi to me was even better than the successful wines of Chateau Mere.

KISI –  An excellent Georgian white wine!  The flavor appeals to Europeans much more than to Georgians, but this is an authentic native grape and wine, that is being refined more and more for export, and is quite good.

CHITISTVALA BODBURI –  this white wine is a bit salty in taste similar to some “salty” Portuguese white wines.  This is a new experimental wine with a local grape not made into wine by many vintners in the past.

GRDZELMTEVANA –  a fruity but rather good Georgian white wine.

KAKHURI MTSVIVANI –  my Georgian friends who were with me and who have lived in Europe and who know European wines, liked this Georgian white wine the best!  To me, it was a little more Georgian than European, so I reserve my judgment for the best for later!

SAPENA –  slightly sweet tasting dry wine with a hint of European taste, that to me was average to good.

DONDGLABI –  Zesty zingy Tsinandali type wine that is sassier in taste.  Not bad, not great.

TETRI BUDESHURI –  this white wine has a nearly European taste but comes across as a good average wine.

TSULUKIDZIS TETRA –  this wine is much like the Budeshuri above but much more intense.

CHINURI –  if you can imagine what a mixture of Georgian white wine flavors and European flavors, in the dry zone of wines, and then further feel in your mouth a strong “mild” taste, that is what this Chinuri feels like on your tongue.

KUNDZA – not great, not bad, an “almost” German white wine taste in a very Georgian white wine.

ALAZANI –  This tastes like a smooth and pleasant and tasty “spicy” somehow Tsinandali.

Irma Tchokhonelidze with her old childhood friend, now the wife of Levan the wine master



Patrick Lynch from Ireland samples a few white wines



Agro Director Levan Ujmajuridze prepares a new glass of wine for tasting


Phoka Nunnery Cheeses



TBILISI BOTANICAL GARDEN

Irma Tchokhonelidze

Ketevan Berishvili -- it was GREAT to see you featured at minute 12:45 in France24's TALKING EUROPE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEwdzbmwNCA

Georgia: From Silk Road crossroads to EU connections (part 2)

Other related and/or similar websites on wine in Nation of Georgia!